Draft gear support



Aug. 8, 1933.

A. F. OCONNOR DRAFT GEAR SUPPORT -2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 1'7, 1930 Aug. 8, 1933. A. F. O'CONNOR DRAFT GEAR SUPPORT Filed April 17. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' SW In Patented Aug. 8, 1933 UNITED STATES 1; ATE'NT oF ieEj 2 Claims. j(c1. era-e1) My invention relates to improvements in draft gear mechanism of thetype used-more particu-' larly on railway freight cars. a The object of the invention is to improve the carrier or supporting means for railway car draft gear by eliminating the-necessity for tools 'or special equipment in removing and replacing the draft gear whenever'and wherever the occasion arises for adjustment or repair, and thus make possible and convenient the removal and replacement of the draft gear at any time and at places along the railroad where facilities for heating and riveting or other special operations are either limited or entirely lacking.

This and other objects appearing hereinafter are accomplished by the provision of a draft gear carrier or supporting mechanism which itself is instantly detachable or removable, and likewise replaceable without the use of tools or special equipment.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one embodiment of the invention as applied to the draft gear equipment ofrailway freight cars.

Referring to the drawings:

525 Fig. 1 is a plan of a draft gear in position positioned between the draft gear sills A of the.

car.

car adjacent each end and are spaced apart in parallel relation to accommodate the draft gear B. These sills are channnel-shaped members arranged with their flanges 1 extending outwardly and with the upper flanges secured by rivets 2 to the frame of the car in'the usual manner. The forward ends .of the sills are bridged by a member 3 through which the drawbar 4 of the draft gear operates, the draw-bar being provided with the usual coupler 5 at its outer end.

The sills have the usual stop members. 6 on their inner faces, extending toward each other and forming forward and rear shoulders 7 between and against which the spring block 10 of The sills A are disposedlongitudinally of the" also provided to reinforce the widened central the draft gear operates, this block having longi'-.

tudinal movement between said' forward and I rear shoulders, and guided-at its sides 11 by'the inner sidewalls of the sills.

The draft gear has a yoke 12 which islooped around the rear end of the block lil with its 60.

upper andlower members extending forwardly over and under the spring block. At its forward end, it is divided to embrace the rear end of the draw-bar 4, and a transverse key 14 detachably connects the draw-bar with the yoke. The transverse key extends through and'operates in elongated slots 15in .thesills and forward stop members. 5 v Y The space between the sills is open at the bottom to provide for removal and replacementof the'draft gear. It is the usual practice to bridge this space at the bottom beneaththe spring block with a plate for supporting the draft gear. The practice is to belt or rivet the plate to the f lower flanges of the sills, riveting being the more common practice. This practice makes necessary the use of tools for detaching the carrier plate, and the use of welding and riveting equip-. ment for replacing said plate. Such equipment is not always available at points along the railroad where the occasion for adjustment and repairs of the draft gear might arise.

In accordance with this invention, the supporting plate member is made quickly and easily detachable. The carrier plate 20, as shown in the drawings, is positioned transversely of the draft gear at the lower edge of the sills. It has a flat upper surface upon which the yoke 12 rests to support the draft gear in position. This plate is preferably made as a castingQand its central portion 21, Fig. 1, is widened longitudinally of the draft gear spring. block to provide sufficient supporting area therefor. At its, ends, the supporting member has upstanding shoulders or flanges 22 which closely fit within the space between the two sills and bear against the sills, so that the plate forms a rigid brace at the lower edges of the sills and prevents any tendency of the sills to be sprung inwardly.

The carrier plate is itself strengthened by two parallel ribs 23 formed integrally on the under side of the plate andwhich merge at their ends into integral webs 24. Integral cross ribs 25 are portion 21 of the plate. Outside of the webs 24, 105 the plate has outstanding ears or lugs 26 at its ends. Theseears extend diagonally downwardly-beneath the lower flanges of the sills. These ears, at'each end, are positioned outside of two lugs 27 which extend downwardly from brackets no I 28. The brackets are permanently fastened to the "under side of the lower flanges of the sills by means of the rivets 29. The carrier plate ears 26 and the bracket lugs 27 have holes at their endswhich are aligned with each other,

and pins 30 inserted through these aligned holes to form pivots for the carrier plate, Fig. 4. The pivot pins are sufiiciently large in diameter for proper strength. They have flat heads 31 at one end and their opposite ends 32 are tapered so that they may be readily inserted through the pivot holes in the ears and lugs. At their tapered ends, the pins have transverse holes 33 through which a cotter key 34 may be inserted to prevent the accidental displacement of the pins.

If the carrier plate is to be entirely removed,

it is simply necessary to remove both pivot pinsr However, by removing only one of the pins, the

carrier plate may be swung downwardly about the other pin as a pivot, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. It is to be noted that the pivots are outside of and beyond the space occupied by the draft gear, and when the carrier is swung down it also swings clear of the bottom opening of the space, and does not obstruct the removal or replacement of the draft gear.

While I have illustrated and described one embodiment of my invention, it is understood that changes may be made in the construction, arrangement and operation of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I therefore contemplate such changes as fairly fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a structure of the class described, the combination of draft gear sills separated to provide a space therebetween for draft gear mechanism, said space being open and unrestricted at its bottom for the insertion and removal of the draft gear mechanism, brackets secured to the I lower portion of said sills extending downwardly beyond the width of said space, a supporting plate for the draft gear mechanism extending across said space from one sill to the other between said sills to space said sills apart and having shoulders engaging the opposed faces of said sills, said plate having downward extensions at beyond the ends of said plate and below the flat plate portion for attachment to a support, and integral cross reinforcing members between and connected with said longitudinal reinforcing members. v c.

ARTHUR F. .OCONNOR. 

